After recording for a sufficient amount of time, Asta finally put her phone away.
She hurried forward and helped Herta up in one smooth motion.
"Lady Herta, if you keep doing this, Mr. Su Ran will feel troubled!"
Shipping CPs was one thing, but if it made a guest feel uncomfortable, then that became Asta's responsibility as station director.
"Then make him tell me what he's hiding from me!"
Herta snapped back immediately.
Asta looked toward Su Ran, clearly hoping he'd help her out.
Because calming Lady Herta was never an easy task.
And if she were alone, she had absolutely no confidence she could handle it.
In the entire space station, the only person capable of truly restraining Herta
Was Su Ran.
"Asta, come here."
Su Ran crooked his finger at her.
When she leaned in, he whispered something softly into her ear.
The confusion on Asta's face instantly turned into sheer terror.
Her eyes widened as she stared at him in disbelief.
"Th–th–this… that can't be real, right?!"
A real Aeon appearing inside the Simulated Universe?!
Wasn't that research jointly conducted by Lady Herta and several geniuses?
How could a real Aeon possibly appear?
And of all Aeons—
The Elation Aeon, Aha?!
The worst one possible!
"For now, it's just a hypothesis," Su Ran said calmly.
"But if she finds out, it might become reality."
Su Ran knew Asta was smart enough to judge the situation.
And just like that, his masterful diversion of disaster worked perfectly.
Herta immediately shifted her target to Asta.
"What did he tell you?"
If she couldn't deal with Su Ran, then surely she could handle Asta, right?
"I'm sorry! Lady Herta! I really can't say!"
Because she knew Herta's personality all too well, Asta didn't dare reveal anything.
She wasn't willing to gamble with the lives of everyone on the space station.
The Elation Aeon blowing up the Astral Express was something the conductor had personally confirmed.
What if one day Aha suddenly felt like blowing up Herta Space Station too?
If Lady Herta's behavior might draw His attention—
Asta absolutely could not speak.
Even the smallest probability was unacceptable.
After all, the Elation Aeon was completely unpredictable.
She couldn't afford to take chances.
"Even you won't tell me?"
Now that even Asta refused, Herta became even more certain this had something to do with herself.
And that only made her more interested.
After all—
What one can't obtain is always the most tempting.
Herta's curiosity was now itching unbearably.
Whatever it was,
it was something even Asta was afraid to tell her.
Especially given the fear and panic written clearly on her face.
That wasn't an act.
"I'm really sorry… this is genuinely terrifying. I can't gamble…"
Asta surrendered outright.
But she still refused to say anything.
Herta stared at her in silence.
Ten full minutes passed.
Under that scrutinizing gaze, Asta felt immense pressure.
"I… I'm sorry…"
She apologized again.
"Actually," Su Ran said casually, "this Herta doll has already gone offline."
He put away the phone he'd been using to record.
"Huh?"
Asta quickly stepped aside
And sure enough, the Herta doll hadn't moved an inch.
Its posture hadn't changed.
Even its eyes hadn't shifted.
Asta had endured ten full minutes of pressure—
From a motionless doll.
"Then why didn't you remind me earlier?!"
She looked at Su Ran with deep resentment.
Did he have any idea how scared she'd been just now?!
"I thought Asta looking scared was pretty cute."
"..."
Asta was both resentful and speechless.
She genuinely didn't know what to say.
"You'll get used to it," Ningguang said, patting her shoulder.
She herself had long since grown accustomed to Su Ran's occasional absurdity.
"You've got it pretty good already," Nightingale added, also patting her shoulder.
Compared to her own experiences, Su Ran was actually being rather gentle with Asta.
"There are plenty of people who've had it worse."
Raiden Makoto gently patted Asta's back as well.
The three of them comforting her—
Shocked Asta deeply.
"…Do you three get bullied by him often?"
That experienced-veteran tone—
What was that about?!
Was Mr. Su Ran always like this with people around him?
Thinking about how Lady Herta had suffered even worse, Asta suddenly felt like she hadn't had it that bad after all.
"Mr. Su Ran… are you getting back at me?"
She asked cautiously.
Was it because her attitude hadn't been great when they first met?
Did that upset him?
"How could that be?" Su Ran replied innocently.
"I'm not that petty."
He absolutely refused that accusation.
But the way he stared straight into the starry void—
Had zero credibility.
"Then could you say that while looking me in the eyes?"
"I'm afraid you'll fall in love with me."
"..."
"Then I promise I won't fall in love with you!"
At this point, Asta practically sounded like Herta herself.
She was stubbornly trying to win an argument.
"Oh? Then I'm afraid I'll fall in love with you. How about that?"
"..."
Alright. She lost.
At least now it was clear—=
This really was payback.
Asta sighed and looked at Su Ran's profile as he gazed into the stars.
He joked a lot, sure
But honestly, he didn't seem so bad.
Handsome.
Brilliant.
And with a personality like that—
Life together probably wouldn't be boring at all.
The next second, Asta slapped her own cheeks.
Snap.
Wake up!
How could she even think something like that?!
As the number-one CP fan of Lady Herta × Mr. Su Ran, she absolutely could not do something as sinful as breaking up the ship!
"See?" Su Ran said proudly to Makoto and the others.
"Even just my side profile is enough to make a young girl's heart flutter."
And disturbingly—
He wasn't wrong.
The way Asta had just stared at him really did look like a girl in love.
It could only be said—
She was at that age.
Asta: "..."
Why was she clearly shipping Herta × Su Ran—
Yet somehow the gossip ended up landing on her instead?!
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